Day One: Senggigi to Tetbatu

While on West Lombok, we have parked ourselves between Senggigi and Mataram for three weeks, and most of the month, have every intention of keeping it to one place. However, we couldn’t miss an opportunity to explore this resplendent Hawaii-esque island laden with tucked away waterfalls, quirky wildlife, pristine beaches, lush forest, hospitable people, stunning agricultural land, and Indonesia’s second most prominent soaring volcano, Mount Rinjani. 

But unlike Hawaii, exploring here can be an inexpensive and adventurous endeavor, especially when you hop on a motorbike with far more power than we’re used to. This is exactly what we did for our three day/two night road trip. Oh….now this is TRUE freedom!

The first day took us east from Senggigi to Tetebatu, where we stayed our first night in the welcoming cooler temperatures. We experienced some less than ideal roads, discovered some fetching hidden waterfalls and swimming holes, sat down with some friendly locals, and spotted a new brand of monkey for us…the Black Langur. Tetebatu is simply gorgeous and we undoubtedly recommend it as a must see when visiting Lombok.

The first stop was a 50-minute ride from our accommodation at “Wisata Tibu Atas,” which was truly a hidden waterfall we never would have found without the guidance of a local. The completely non-English-speaking local happened to be this granny, who emerged shoeless from a rice field with a gnarled hand clutching an antique hand sickle. You might worry she was going to kill you, until she flashed an adorable toothless grin (okay, maybe there were three). 

It didn’t take us long to realize where that toothless grin was acquired because on our walk, she began picking the rice directly off the plants and chucking it back like popcorn. And as any welcoming local does, she shared, (which we quickly spit out when she wasn’t looking.) 

The waterfall, Wisata Tibu Atas, where she led us was also a fabulous swimming hole. She motioned vigorously with her arms clearly asking us if we wanted to swim, but it was early in the day and we weren’t quite ready for a deluge. She seemed disappointed in us. 

We also met her granddaughter, Radiyah, who thanks to her education, was able to chat a bit. She also sold us some local honey produced by her brother, the beekeeper of the village.  By this point, we had managed to get three jars of local honey, which all had to be consumed before our next flight at the end of September. Haha 

Along the way, we also met two farmers who, after harvesting, were already burning the fields, simultaneously with their lungs. This is an unfortunate way of life across many parts of Southeast Asia. All of them must have feet that resemble cracked leather. Can’t imagine. However, their office is quite an unbelievable setting!! 

Although our granny wouldn’t allow us to take photos of her, she invited us to take photos of the people laboring in the field. One popped up like a statue when granny called to her. Must be painstakingly hot…they are typically covered from head to toe. 

Folded inside a rural Indonesian village. 

Moving on, where else to eat our leftover pizza lunch, but pulled over on the side of a rocky dirt road next to an irrigation canal? Greg definitely plays the role of bad ass biker. We shared our crusts with this ‘lil buddy. It’s interesting how many more street dogs there are on Lombok than Java, even though the island has a similar percentage of Muslims.

After our biker lunch, we continued traveling east to Tetebatu Village where we were sure, since it’s more of a tourist destination, we’d find some ice cream. We did. But only in Magnum form at the AlfaMart, which is Indonesia’s rendition of a 7/11.

The mosque in Tetebatu Village, a scenic region of Lombok which definitely lacks the crowds of some of the other parts of the island. 

It also lacks many resources, but it was positively utopian for us. 

After checking into our bungalow, (see below), we headed out in search of more waterfalls. With so many options, it was difficult to prioritize but ultimately, we chose a remarkable and crowd-free one at “Air Terjun Sarang Walet.” There is a convenient parking lot a few hundred meters down from the falls which cost 5000 rupiahs or about $.33. We could have parked right by the falls on the road and paid nothing, but fortunately it didn’t break the budget. 🤣 This land is just beautiful. 

To visit the waterfall, we paid about $1.30 each and signed the official registry book where, as usual, we seemed to be at company with a European majority. We also noticed only a small handful of people were visiting each day. The attendant then took our shoes and outfitted us with a pair of flip flops, undoubtedly including some German’s toe fungus. 

The waterfall is surrounded by dense lush jungle and started with a captivating walk through a collapsed lava tube to reach it. 

The setting was simply exquisite, and was an idyllic place to reconnect with nature.

The name means “swallows nest,” which refers to the birds that have found shelter in the cliffs above the collapsed lava tube. 

Although the very short journey to get there was fun, the real treat in this case was the dreamy destination. But what’s really crazy is, this mysterious underworld crazily looks like succulent jungle from above as the foliage nearly blankets the opening.

Nature’s canvas. Wow! 

Directional signs back to the village, so we could then make our way to the Monkey Forest where we could have easily skipped payment by going to an alternate entrance. But, since we thought the $2/each would go towards conservation, we happily paid. Next time we might not considering the number of obnoxiously vocal dirt bikes that zipped through the forest, which we’re not so sure the monkeys appreciate. 

You might recognize this as an ornamental plant, but Coleus grows wild in Indonesia and was draped throughout the monkey forest. As soon as we wandered into the Monkey Forest, we checked Mapy to see what kind of trails we were dealing with. Ironically, we were not on any of them! The red trail is one of four that meanders its way north to the top of Mount Rinjani. Since we only had an hour to kill before sunset, we figured it might be ambitious to commit to a summit. Haha. 

It didn’t take long to spot some customary macaques, which are basically the squirrel of Southeast Asia. However, we did have to go off the trails to catch our first black langur action. This species is an Old World Monkey which is long, lean, primarily tree-dwelling and to us, held a faint resemblance to the 1970s/80s toy, the Monchhichi. They are relatively quiet by monkey standards, but seem social based on the size of the troop we encountered.

They also didn’t seem overly enthusiastic to see us. In fact, we had two of them try to wee on us, which we’re pretty sure wasn’t an accident. Hmmm….these creatures are not quite as welcoming as the local humans….

Other than this, the forest itself was an inviting experience, the temperature felt perfect and we’re happy we went. The loop we did was in total about six hours at approximately two hours per day, which was the perfect amount for we amateurs’ behinds to be perched on a motorbike. 

Night 1: Satu Lingkung Bungalows

In addition to the magnificent surroundings, a great thing about Tetebatu is the abundance of very inexpensive and family-owned homestay and bungalow options, also in undeniably picturesque settings. Booking at the last minute, we settled on Satu Lingkung Bungalows, which featured a private cabin perched overlooking the rice terraces, complete with a private bathroom, patio, hammock and breakfast. All for $10 on Booking. In your face, Bali. The outside of our bungalow was predominately made of bamboo and featured some charming ornamentation, including an idyllic place for a snooze.

The crappy view from the property. There was also a platform which had many bean bag chairs calling for happy hour. 

Too bad the couple before us on the chairs drank five, which apparently wiped out the inventory and left us with one…to share. 😂

But alas, life could be worse. Our room for the evening. We didn’t sleep so well. One party in the same couple that drank all the beer was also hacking up a lung in a cabin near us. The Europeans seem to be relocating COVID to SE Asia…again. 

Leading down into our private  bathroom which was dazzled with a very fun lighting scheme. 

Dinner at the property was Gado Gado…($3) each one made slightly differently. 

The cows on the way out thanked us for our vegetarian choices. You got it Bessie 👍🏻

Shots around the property.

Fortunately a kind neighbor, who owns this fish farm, let us park at his house up above because Greg was not about to let our bike roll down the ridiculously steep hill leading into the property.

Day 1 Total Cost: $38.43, including accommodation ($10), motorbike rental ($6), gas ($2.70), dinner/ice cream ($10), sightseeing and tips ($9).

Day Two: Tetebatu to Sembalun

Waking up for day two of our Lombok motorbike loop…the downside is we were greeted by Coughy Cougherson next door. The upside is we were also greeted by crystal clear skies, which showcased an absolutely spectacular view unveiling itself like an ice cream sundae featuring a pile of the second tallest volcano in Indonesia…Mount Rinjani. This utterly picturesque scene rose to 3,726 metres (12,224 ft), topped by palms and rice terraces with a beautiful mosque as a cherry on top. 

The day’s journey took us further up in altitude and another two hours east from Tetebatu to Sembalun and the views continued to enamour us at every bend in the road. We also met some more fabulous people, some literally welcoming us with animated shouts as we sped by on the back of a bike, weaved our way through strawberry wonderlands, choked down more grease, and simply embraced the absolute presence you feel from being tossed onto the back of a bike.

Pulling over at a viewpoint, a giant local family befriended us immediately. Mandy was shockingly only one of two pulling a peace sign. 😂 The viewpoint offered some eye candy into the caldera of the Sembalun Ancient Volcano.

Of course, as you’re gazing out, you better watch your stuff because lingering, yet adorable thieves below might help themselves to YOUR candy. 

Pulling over at the side of the road to continue soaking it in.

By the way, if someone tries to charge for parking at these viewpoints, it’s probably not required. Simply move forward and park on the side of the road. 

Check out this scaffolding!! All made of bamboo. As Mandy was taking the photo, a man on top near the dome literally yelled, “Hello! Where do you go?! which is the seemingly strange and nosy question Indonesians ask equivalent to “how are you?” They also shouted questions like, “where are you from?” and “where do you stay?” as we cruised through villages. 

We pulled over for lunch at a roadside warung where, as usual, we tossed off our shoes, sat on floor mats and were presented with the Indonesian staples….which we are beyond ready to graduate from…a pile of greasy Nasi goreng (fried rice) or mie goreng (fried noodles) with a side of murdered egg.

The good news is, the east side of Rinjani is strawberry country, so the restaurant had an adjoining patch, which gave us the opportunity to have delicious fresh strawberry juice for $.60 to wash down the oil slick. 
It also gave us the chance to buy a massive tray of takeaway berries for $2. They were the best berries we’ve had in years and such a nice break from the tropical fruits we’ve grown accustomed to.

At last we arrived at our destination of Sembalun, which is mostly known as a backpacker’s tourist stop en route to their climb up Mt. Rinjani. Although the surroundings itself are stunning, the village itself is nothing special. Note the glistening green petrol for sale in glass bottles on the bottom right. This seems to be an Indonesian thing. The green color signifies that it’s government approved “Pertamina” petrol.

It was obvious to see that the standards in this backpacker town were very low, starting with a pretty dreadful accommodation selection, and extending to the restaurants. We ate at Sembalun Clasik Cafe, which seemed to be the best of the bunch with a 4.9 rating on Google. Although the options on the menu sounded appealing, what we got didn’t quite fulfill the menu marketing. Pictured here is Greg’s Lalapan ayam…”fried chicken with tempe and eggplant and local chili sauce,” which was all a bit…stiff.

Mandy’s choice was Ayam Suir, or “Shredded sembalun chiken, tofu and tampe with local chili sauce,” which was a local dish which sounded, and even looked decent. And although it was spiced nicely, kinda like ceviche, shredded chicken in Indonesia apparently does not mean delicately tearing chicken into…uh…a shredded form. Here it must mean whacking cooked pieces of chicken with a whack-a-mole mallet and tossing stuff on top. Once you peeled back the layer of spicy veggie dressing, it was basically like eating someone’s leftover or gnawed on chicken bits. After this debacle, we returned to the ‘ol reliable vegetarian Gado Gado.

Arriving to our bed at Mount Rinjani Guesthouse ($14), we realized this would not be the rice paddie palace we’d had the night before (which ironically was $4 less). We were met by an older guy, who grunted a bit and either didn’t speak English, or didn’t want to speak English, probably so he wouldn’t disturb the cig dangling out of his mouth. He first showed us to a room which very obviously had not been cleaned. And then, he stuck us in this room which had a hoard of tiny flies accessorizing the walls. After dinner, a few hours later, we found several large (biting) ants on our bed, followed by a thrilling discovery of a gigantic ant nest…in the corner, behind the trash bin. A nest, yes that was actually made of dirt….on a tile floor. 

By this time, the older guy had been replaced by a pack of rambunctious 20-somethings, some who clearly worked there, but all who piled into our room when we asked for ant spray to examine the situation. Once they sprayed, naturally an entire colony of quite pissed off ants started to march out (queue Dave Matthew’s Band) from under the walls of the room. We asked to change rooms and of course and got moved back to dirty room #1, which fortunately seemed like it had been swept and had new sheets(?) The guys continued to be boys of that age in the courtyard until about 10:30 creating a lovely ambience. Ok. Could we go back to our private villa in Senggigi now? 🤣 The good news is, we did wake to a very inviting view of Mount Rinjani out our quite dingy window.

Emerging from our hole, we were served with more banana pancakes for breakfast, and a side of our strawberries. The staff may have been sucking up a bit after the night, but this is still not a place we’ll be writing a stellar review for! 😂

Day 2 Total Cost: $34: Accommodation (14), Motorbike Rental (6), Sightseeing (3), Strawberries (2) and lunch and dinner (9).

Day Three: Sembulun to Senggigi

For our third and final day of our loop around Northern Lombok, we drove our longest stretch, but also experienced smooth and speedy roadways making it all the more pleasant. Of course that didn’t keep us from veering off course to discover rural roads quilted with verdant rice terraces. We also encountered loads of cashews, visited a unique organic farm, a centuries old wooden mosque, and some beautiful beaches.

At our lunch stop, this adorable mom and her two outgoing daughters zipped over to welcome us to Lombok and introduce themselves. After a nice chat, we grabbed a selfie to remember them by. Mandy was the one to forget her peace sign this time, but somehow seems to be the outsider…again.

If you wanna feel like you’re really off the beaten path and get some luscious eye candy, head south from Bayan toward “Masjid Dusun Teres Genit.” 

Another encounter we had was…cashews. Do you know where the delicious fatty little cashew nut comes from? In the Northern part of Lombok, particularly between Sembalun and Bayan along the main road, one can find more cashew trees than most will ever see in their lifetime. The trees thrive in well-drained, sandy soils and need a warm, humid climate, making Lombok’s tropical conditions ideal for their cultivation. 
Unfortunately the nuts are still attached to the fleshy orange or yellow cashew apple fruit and because parts of the plant are poisonous at this stage, you can’t just pull over and chow down. Therefore, we were on the hunt for a local selling cashews on the side of the road because uh….wouldn’t you be doing that if you were a local? But…nope. No such luck 😒

Fortunately, we instead soon stumbled upon Saifana Organic Farm, which was started 11 years ago by Anne-Sophie & Tikno who decided to build a place where every summer, they could be reunited with their 7 children who were studying in Europe. They started building bungalows for each child and at the same time, challenged themselves to grow organic produce in the extremely rocky and dry soil of this abandoned cashew orchard. 

They turned it into one heck of an operation with bungalows for rent, and workshops on cooking classes, gardening and cashew processing. What a fun place! Of course, they also sell amazing the cashew products we were longing for…some of the best quality roasted cashews we’ve had (though not excelling what we found on Vietnam.) We also bought a jar of tangy Cashew Apple Butter Jam. Two bags of artisan cashews and the jam were $6.50. When we can, we always buy consumables to support local businesses like this! Who knew the fruit had its uses too?

One of the bungalows. We only wish we had stopped here on night two because it looked far more alluring than our Bug Bungalow. 

Moving along, we went to the Bayan Bamboo Ancient Mosque or better known by the local name of the Bayan community “Mesigit Beleu.” This mosque is historical evidence that the first spread of Islam was in Bayan. According to a plaque it dates from 16th Century. According to the gardener and other people who may like to exaggerate online, it may date from 14th Century. Regardless, it’s old.

To enter, you must pay 10,000 rupiahs ($.60) each to loan a sarong to go around your waist, regardless if you are wearing pants or not. You are then asked to make a donation, which we happily obliged. Also, women who are on their period are not allowed to enter, but fortunately nobody checked Mandy’s panties for evidence.

Moving along, we pulled over for a roadside lunch at an oceanfront restaurant. The view captured a sprawling and seemingly untouched black sand beach, which are a dime a dozen on this side of Lombok. Our oceanfront lunch was two mango juices, and our reliable go tos….Gado Gado and Chicken Satay, all for about $3.50.

A commanding viewpoint over the very inviting Nipah Beach. And gazing the other direction, we could see our first glimpses of the northern Gili Islands in the distance. Awww…we could almost smell the booze from there!

Heading down to Nipah Beach, we found a lovely ramshackled fishing village where there was not an ounce of tourism development on this gorgeous swath of sand. Still so many places like this on Lombok. We love it. 

Day 3 total budget: $21: Motorbike (6), Gas (2) for half a tank, wooden mosque (3), lunch (3.50), Cashews (6.50)

Total 3 day/2 night road trip: $93